Avatar: Azula and the Strider Kitsune
by The Swordslinger
Summary: A sort of prequel to Avatar: Korra and the Master Kitsune, Azula is looking for help in finding Zuko and the Avatar. She knows the perfect guy, a non-bender thief whose known for escaping Fire Nation jails because of his speed, someone nicknamed the Hiraishin for his speed and skills. However, can she deal with someone as fast and free as the wind? Chakraless Naruto x Azula.
1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING

Well, can't touch Legend of Korra without first touching Last Air Bender, right? I could say a lot, but like my other Avatar fic, you'll have to wait to find answers.

Personal reasons for this fic that my friend The Lord Of Pages summed up: I seriously do feel sad for Azula, she could've had A MUCH happier life, she could've been redeemed, she could've been happy, she could've had friends, family, a mother who loved her, a brother who protected her... and all because Ozai was such a bastard, her entire life was screwed up. That man truly is a genuine monster, and Azula is the product of his hatred.

**XXXXXX**

"Get back here you mongrel!"

"Sorry cap'n, I'm hungry!"

Running away from a group of fire soldiers a lone blond youth laughed as he carried in his arms their food while shoving large bites of their roasted beef down his throat when not giving them a cheeky grin. The soldiers tried to follow the youth on their rides, but to their shock the blond thief was even faster on foot than their supposedly pure breed reptilian carriers. The blond was clad in a skin tight pitch black muscle shirt, wore hakama pants that were a dark shade of orange, and on his left arm was a red set of steel armor consisting of a gauntlet and a pauldron. He looked like a samurai, and even if his short hair was wildly spiked up and bending backwards which gave it the look of flames moving in the wind, he looked quite handsome too. He had fox-like traits, such as his sharp cerulean eyes, the way his face was shaped, and the birthmarks on his cheeks resembling whiskers.

As he laughed, a large soldier carrying a massive war hammer and thick layers of steel armor stood before the blond, making the youth grin as he reached to his back and pulled... a shinai, a simple bamboo sword kept in place by a single strap stitched in a loop to the blond thief's back. The large Fire Nation soldier laughed at the cheap weapon and decided to let the blond attack him. And just as the blond was within range of a swing of the massive hammer... he was gone in a blur of speed. The soldier blinked and turned around while the thief's pursuers tried to find him too, only for the larger man to notice a shadow over his head as it passed over him quickly.

The blond landed harmoniously, and hefted his shinai on his right bare shoulder, with his left armored arm extended waiting for something to fall on it. The hammer carrier roared at the top of his lungs at the brat's cocky attitude and tried to smash him to a pulp, only to watch that all he lifted was half of his hammer's handle, and that his swing missed the blond by a long shot because the heavy head and the rest of the handle were on the ground. A metal click was heard, and the soldier's armor soon fell to the floor, just as the blond thief's not so legally earned food landed on his left arm in a makeshift platter on the soldier's breastplate.

"See ya!" The blond said with a wave and a smile, before running off, leaving behind him a cloud of dust. He then noticed that he was now in the center of the small town, and with no fire benders or Fire Nation soldiers around and some buildings standing to give him way to disappear, he started to laugh as he wondered what to eat next, "Hahaha! Nothing really beats stealing the food of arrogant idiots! Man, that was almost too easy..."

"You don't say." The blond heard to his right before skidding to a halt, dragging his feet so he could turn around with the momentum of his previous run to face his opponent in this alley. He settled down his stolen goods and held his shinai in both hands, ready for any attack. He then swung his weapon at incredible speeds, his arms and the bamboo sword basically disappearing, only for them to stand back where they had been the next second as a dozen knives fell around him.

He chuckled, "I should've noticed you caught up with me, I did hear the fire and felt the heat closing in... But I didn't think you'd have company." He said as a stunning woman with her black hair done in a bun flew down using her blue fire bending to propel herself and now slowly hover down with a brunette with her hair done in a long braid and a stoic black haired girl with hers done in pigtails clinging to the fire bender.

He didn't know whether to make a joke or not, but he knew that when amber cold eyes settled on his that he couldn't exactly run from this fight, not figuratively of course. "I've heard so much about the so called fastest man alive. Are you him?" The fire bender asked with a smirk as she landed harmoniously on the ground with the other girls standing by her side, staring at the blond.

He gave her a grin, "I don't go around shoving that title left and right, but yes, some people do call me that."

The bun haired girl smirked, "And you still haven't let your guard down. Good, I wouldn't want to fight an idiot who steals food and trusts on his luck."

The brunette hummed, "But, you know, Azula... I feel some good vibes out of him, like he's actually one with the universe."

The speedster raised a brow, "I got no idea of what you said, but I'm just a guy who enjoys what he has and lives how he wants."

The stoic girl sighed, "Then he IS an idiot, Ty Lee."

The brunette jumped to his defense, surprising for him, "Hey, that's the way people should try to live, Mai. I enjoyed it while it lasted before my call with Azula."

The blond tilted his head to the side, "Well, I have no idea what any of you are up to, but thank you for your names, Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula." He gave them a wisecracking smile.

The last one to be named smirked, "Oh, a so you're smart too... Let's skip the unneeded formalities then... and get to the fun!" She threw her hand forward, throwing a lightning shot from her fingers at the blond. She was expecting him to move out of the way, or do something with that legendary speed of his... She certainly didn't think of the blond being gutsy enough to run at her lightning, duck just as it was about to hit his eye directly, and dash below it as he neared her at incredible speeds.

His shinai would've hit her had she not swung her leg to deflect the weapon, and then he was forced to jump high in the air, far too high for the girls to believe he was human. With a single leap, he was three stories above them, smirking. Ty Lee grinned and started jumping from ledge to ledge on the nearby buildings using her acrobatic tricks until reaching a rooftop, where she met the blond just as he readied himself to escape.

He chuckled, "You're good, and real cute." He then got into a defensive stance, "But I'd enjoy my freedom if you don't mind, or a date at least."

She giggled, her hands balled to her grinning face like a schoolgirl who got asked to prom, "Thanks, but I don't even know your name, so stay still." Both dashed at each other, and she was beyond surprised as the blond weaved around her quick jabs and used his sword to block the ones that got too close to him for comfort. She however would amaze him as she bent at incredible angles to avoid getting knocked sillier into the next week. And the blond had to admit he was actually scared, for those jabs were meant to seal chi, meaning that if he was hit once he could be wide open for her.

However, the brunette soon giggled and started cart-wheeling away from him, making the blond raise a brow until he noticed how wet his feet felt. He turned and watched a water container with several knives making the water spill all over the roof, and on the edge near the water was Azula, with a hand reaching the liquid and lightning cracking on it.

"Ok, you girls are good..." the blond said as he reluctantly threw his shinai at them, admitting defeat rather than wanting to get fried, "Do you want to throw me in a cell?" He asked with a smirk.

Azula grinned, "I know about you, Naruto the Hiraishin. Your speed is legendary, but what you ahave been best known for is to be a master of infiltration... Sad to see this kind of potential wasted doing this, stealing food to stay alive."

Naruto chuckled, "Not much of a choice considering what the world's come to these days. I just want to earn my keep and stay away from fights, if you understand that." He then looked at her, mockingly examining her, "Then again, being the daughter of your father, I guess you'd like to get things done your way. So, what do you want from me?"

Azula smiled, ignoring his jabs with mastered ease, "Tell me, what if I could give you an actual purpose?" She asked, making the laidback thief show genuine curiosity, so she elaborated, barely holding back her smirk, "You see, why waste your life as another face from the bunch when you're far more than what you seem to be? You have potential, you have power, and you are also quite wisened with this street rat life of yours. Don't you want to have more meaning than a few rumors that would be turned into forgettable legends? Perhaps leave your name throughout history as more than a thief?"

Naruto whistled, "You're good... Fine, I'll bite, what's the catch?"

Azula chuckled, "You follow my lead, and I'll show you how to make others remember you for ages."

He smiled in a laidback way, "You're a scary one, lady... But I kinda like you now, so okay, I guess I may as well have some fun."

The princess smirked, '_Oh, this is going to get fun. No point in running now, Avatar._'

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap! This Naruto is an experiment of mine, a laidback, carefree guy who wants to stay out of trouble but always get dragged into it no matter how hard he tries to not give a shit. Though his reasons for doing it in this case are... I could say two very good ones, if you get what I mean. That's right... fun and a possibility at fame. What did you think I was talking about?**

**But the main reason he's here is because of what Kishimoto wanted to do with him... and failed miserably at, making a believable, heartfelt redemption of someone who fell into darkness. Azula is somewhat redeemable due to her being nothing but a pawn to Ozai. I'll admit, it's not easy with what she's done and how twisted she is, but looking into her story... I would like to say I hate her but I just end up pitying her. Which is far more than what can be said of the typical "pawn of darkness" villains I've seen. Azula is a very interesting character, and if we could've seen her be redeemed then Last Air Bender would've been truly perfect for yours truly. That was the only flaw I felt bothered about in the story of Aang's adventure: Azula not getting help when she could've been redeemed.**

**So, I thought to myself: let's add in her total opposite, see how they could balance themselves out, and try to make her more human with a guy who does give a damn for others when not thinking about his stomach.**

**Swordslinger out!**


	2. Chapter 2

I OWN NOTHING

Before we go any further, I must reveal to you my darkest of secrets, the way of my mind, the reason why I exist in the first place… I'm just a random lazy ass guy who loves stories. Is your mind blown?

WARNING: Considering there's not much of Azula outside her following Aang and Zuko, well, here's an idea: if she's the daughter of Ozai, wouldn't that make her a big target for his enemies? So, what would Naruto do if in the princess' way to find the Avatar there was danger looming around. There'll be some OCs as villains, that's what I'm getting at, so try to stand my craziness with this little arc.

**XXXXXX**

Those sexy lightning legs

"Now, what am I exactly supposed to do?"

The blond couldn't help but ask his current employer, partly because he was interested in what she had in mind to, quoting the fiery princess, leave his mark in history. He could see the appeal, and he would lie should he say there wasn't a certain desire to have such fame spread all over the world, he had been like that since he had memory. However, the young woman before him, who was maturing quite nicely as he noted, seemed to have more in mind than what she let on and the blond knew of that kind of person.

So, here he sat, in the middle of the Earth Kingdom, with Azula on the other side of the table and her calculative smirk on. He could still try to outrun her and leave, or could listen to her request, consider the price and the goal, and see what he could do before running off with her money. Hey, living on the streets wasn't an easy thing, if he could he would be teaching something to earn some money. That was a nice thought, teaching martial arts, perhaps, to earn some well deserved money. But for now he was about a year older than the girl who hired him, and she had money… and perfect hips.

Azula just smiled, "I want you to track, corner and capture - this last one only if necessary in case I'm not around - three special targets. However, these aren't your average targets, they are very skilled benders, and I could really use more fighters who know their way around facing benders." The blond did note that both Ty Lee and Mai stood prouder, well, Ty Lee smiled more, Mai seemed a bit less sulky.

The blond raised a brow, "And if I refuse, or what if I don't manage to capture them and some idiot does it first?" he asked while leaning back on his chair, his feet kicked up on the table, showing Azula his dirty soles.

The fiery young lady suppressed any and all emotions of disgust and spoke evenly, "If someone gets to them first, well, I shall deal with it accordingly on my own while you can go wherever you want. But should you refuse, you'll have to pay for all the food you've stolen the Fire Nation's troops, and doing so by working for me. If you still don't, well, let's say I'll have a fourth target to my list." She ended with a malicious grin.

Naruto sighed, pulling down his feet from the table and pushing his weight forward with the front legs of his chair stomping hard on the ground. He remained there, looking at Azula evenly, and then, "What if I outrun you?" He asked, and before she could reply a gale of wind replaced him, vanishing just as he did.

Azula just smiled and threw her hand back, "You're fast, I will give you that, but no matter how fast you run, you can't last fighting forever once you get cornered." She said calmly, while her hand stopped Naruto's bare right arm from grabbing her dumplings.

Ty Lee gaped, "Wow, Azula, how did you know what he was going to do?"

The princess chuckled, "Please, he had been staring at my plate the whole time we started talking." She then let the blond go and continued talking as he walked around the table, grabbed his chair, spun it around and sat himself on it with his chest and chin resting on the back of said chair. "Plus, no matter how fast you run, you are easy to read."

Naruto smirked and raised his red armor covered left arm, showing three dumplings in between his fingers which made Azula blink as she stared at her plate, noticing that was the amount she currently lacked. The blond chuckled, "I've pulled pranks on people since I was able to talk, so if there's one thing I pride myself is being capable of having a trick or two." He put a dumpling in his mouth between pauses, chewing quickly before swallowing, "Also, I'm far too stubborn to give up, and even more when there's food on the line."

Azula kept herself composed despite the blond thief's antics, "Then work for me and you'll be able to stuff yourself with all the feasts you desire."

Naruto hummed, thinking on the most important matters at hand before speaking, "I'm not gonna have to treat you like you're the boss or do your chores, right?"

Azula grinned, "Only if you wish to do so, Naruto. However, I'd recommend thinking carefully about the first one."

Naruto then pointed at the girl's female companions, "Then what of them? You're not trying to put a leash on them like you're doing with me."

Mai rolled her eyes, "Believe me, she's already done so with Ty Lee."

Azula couldn't help but chuckle at the jab while the acrobat looked confused, "But the only thing remotely close to a leash that Azula gave me was that choker from my birthday." Naruto laughed a bit, but he had finally decided his answer a while ago.

XXXXXX

"Mmm... This is quite good, if oddly un-cooked."

Azula, who had been in the forest waiting for the blond, tried and managed to control a sigh at her new minion's antics. The plan was simple, have the thief enter town and gather information about the Avatar since he wasn't a bender or a Fire Nation soldier, he was just a random idiot in rags. So after entering the small town they had heard the Avatar visited recently, the blond returned with a bowl of dough shaped like the Avatar, a cartoonish copy of a boy with arrows on its sweet flour limbs. Azula could hear Mai sigh at the carefree attitude of the speedster while Ty Lee giggled. The princess should have expected this when he asked for money before entering the village. But to see him nonchalantly put one of the pieces of dough in his mouth and slurp it like noodles made Ty Lee laugh a bit louder, Mai groan, and Azula slap the bowl off his hands... or try to.

The princess glared as her hand hit nothing but air while the blond managed to put the bowl of non-fried dough on top of his head, his spiked up hair somehow balancing it. This meant that Azula had missed her strike and a random street rat bested her. That meant she was slowly getting mad. In the angry way, she was mad in the insane way years before.

"Would it kill you to do your job seriously?" She asked, and tried to hit the bowl once again, only to groan as the blond made it disappear from his head and reappear on his left hip with his left arm supporting it.

He finished chewing on his non-fried Avatar and spoke, "Well, I did ask around for clues of the guy. Managed to get some free leftover dough from a party they had in his honor after some of your guys found him and got their collective asses kicked out, literally and figuratively." The blond said as he pinched one of the dough figure heads and lifted it to his boss, "It was a group of bizarre dudes in armor riding horned rhinos by what some people described. But if I know a thing or two, is the kind of way to track a trail." He then grinned, "I believe the Avatar has some of this special dough with him."

Azula blinked, "So you can look after someone by acting like a hound?"

Naruto chuckled, "If there's something I'm known for, is to always find food and ways to get it."

Azula smiled and grabbed the dough, using her lightning bending to fry it, "Good to know. Now show us if you can live up to your claims." She said as she bit off the cookie's head.

Naruto hummed for a bit, but simply slurped another piece of dough and let the flavor and the scent wash over him. He smiled and soon dashed forward. The three girls hurried and jumped to the inside of the forest they were hiding in, mounting their reptilian rides to follow the speedster. They barely managed to keep up with him, and only because Naruto was slowing down to sniff the air before changing course, and the fact he kicked enough dirt to leave a sign of where his feet left an imprint on the ground to push him forward faster made it slightly easier to follow him. In a matter of minutes, the blond skidded to a halt, rolled on the ground and jumped into a bush. The three elite warriors waited for anything, only to watch the blond pop out with a large smile on his face, and a bag with dough in hand.

"Didn't I tell you I can find food easily?" He asked as he was about to chow on one of the still not fried cookies, only to have it nailed to a tree courtesy of Mai's knives, "Hey, that wasn't very nice!" He snapped, clenching the hand that had held the cookie into a fist.

Azula spoke in her commanding voice, "We're here to find the Avatar, not to feed you!"

Naruto groaned, "Fine, fine... I can still smell the other kinds of food they had stored..." He said as he leaned down and took a deep sniff of the dough, "Barely any meat, some potatoes... and what seems to be..." He sniffed more, "It's either not fried, or still alive, but I think I smell two animals, a very large one, and a small animal from the mountains, perhaps... Both could go well with some herbs if grilled… There's also fruit."

"A small animal from the mountains?" Ty Lee hummed, "Say, Mai, didn't they have some sort of flying lemur?"

The stoic girl sighed, "I believe they did... It seems that he is worth something."

Naruto snapped again, "Hey! I just do my job my way, and only to get some good chow!"

Azula spoke up, "Enough chit-chat, Naruto, lead us to them immediately, and once they're captured you can eat their pets if you feel like it."

The blond groaned, "Fine... After lunch." He said as he grabbed a piece of dough and threw it in the air while ducking under Azula's fire, which left the cookie nicely fried and crunchy. The princess huffed as the blond had avoided what was meant to burn off his eyebrows and make him walk in ridicule, but he had used it to cook the cookie currently in his mouth, "Mmm... tastes better when hot..."

Ty Lee stepped closer, her right index finger placed to her lower lip, "That actually looks good, can I have some?" She said while trying not to drool. Azula finally let out a sigh simultaneously with Mai, knowing she would have to put up with this if she wanted the world's fastest man to catch up to the Avatar, lead her to him, and then perhaps leave her alone so she could take care of the brat.

However, she was brought out of her thoughts as Naruto extended the bag of dough at her, "You could try them either cooked or the way they are now, they're real tasty."

She sighed but gave in since at least he was doing his job, so she grabbed one, fried it with her lightning, and turned to her mercenary, "I really don't want to lose my patience on the one guy who says he can track the Avatar, so let us move before that happens." She said as she snapped the cookie vertically in half, with the head on the right half of the body. She then bit off the cookie's head while the blond sighed tiredly, turned around, and disappeared in a blur of speed.

The trio of girls jumped back to their rides and followed the blond, who simply dashed without a problem through the forest on his bare feet. As he did so, he chewed on the bag of dough the Avatar left. He didn't know who the Avatar could be, but if the kid left a bag of such good food behind then he should learn some manners about food and its importance, more when it comes to unemployed, hungry people like the speedster!

XXXXXX

Taking a deep sniff, Naruto smirked, "Ah… I love the smell of Earth Kingdom cooking… Smells like a perfect balanced meal." Rubbing his nose with the back of an index finger, the blond was smiling from ear to ear as the princess and her friends dismounted from their reptilian rides to see an Earth Kingdom city with, to Azula's amusement, a familiar symbol of a boar with wings. Said city was miles away, but the symbol could be seen as a proud banner in most places.

"This place basically belongs to the Beifong family…" Mai commented as she watched the city from afar, "In short, they're rich enough to be treated like royalty."

Naruto huffed, "Way to kill the mood…" he got a glare from the stoic girl which he ignored as he threw his arms up, "You should say something like: 'Ladies and gentleman, welcome do Gaoling…' to add some life to our arrival. Or, you know, just to get an inside laugh for yourself."

Ty Lee stood by his side with a large smile, "Or, 'Welcome to Gaoling, where cabbages are not allowed'…" She said as she aimed at finger at what was a cart filled with cabbages rolling down, followed by its owner who cried after it after the guards of the city kicked him and his rotten cabbages out of their town.

Naruto clapped, which made the brunette smile, "Yeah, something like that to liven up the mood."

Azula stood forward, "We're here hunting the Avatar, do your job and you'll get paid. You can laugh all you want at your bad jokes later."

Naruto huffed again as this time he sat cross legged before the princess, resting one whiskered cheek on a palm, "So, considering I'm here because of my infiltration skills and the fact I'm a thief, you want me to let you, a trio of Fire Nation fighters, inside a city where most residents hate your guts, right?"

Azula chuckled, "You can be smart when you want, good boy." She said as she clapped like he was a pet.

Naruto flipped himself back to his feet and looked at the girls, who blinked when he moved his hands up, his thumbs connected to his index fingers like a frame, "Hmm…" he hummed, as he used the frame of his fingers as a window to look at the girls, creeping Ty lee a bit at how he stuck his tongue out to one side, "Okay… I think I got it."

He turned around and started to dash towards the city, making Ty Lee speak her mind, "I'm not the only one who felt as if he were trying to watch us naked, am I?"

Mai turned to her cheerful friend with a look of partial interest and partial concern hidden in her ever expressionless face and monotone voice, "Please don't tell me you speak because of experience."

"I think I know what he's up to…" Azula said with a sigh as she massaged her temples, "I should've figured it out the instant he looked at us. Oh well, let's see if he's capable of pulling this one out without messing up." However, she still turned to Ty Lee, "And how do you know when a guy's looking at you that way?" she asked because Ty Lee didn't seem the type to know those kinds of things with how innocent and oblivious of reality she was… in fact, though the princess wouldn't say it, the acrobat didn't seem to have much know-how about… much.

Ty Lee chuckled, rubbing the back of her head, "Well, when you are at the circus and get some fans… It's kind of troublesome to not know what they mean until they try to grope you." She then waved her hands, "But don't worry, I was always able to block their chi points before they could feel my skin." She said to try to calm her friends.

Azula sighed, '_Mental note to self: investigate and personally, slowly and painfully torture and then kill every single one of Ty Lee's fans._' She then turned to see her supposed expert thief running at Gaoling's gates, without stopping or trying to take cover.

Instead of taking things the stealthy way, read the "boring way for the Uzumaki lineage", the blond smirked like he won a life supply of free food and raced at the guards. Each of the men at the large gates that protected the city wore the typical green armor of an earth bender, which meant more fun for the blond. He raced at them, ignoring their authoritarian shouts of stopping, and held his shinai still sheathed on his back.

Seeing that the blond wasn't going to stop and that he seemed ready to fight, each earth bender that guarded the gates took a step forward and threw their arms to the skies. Before Naruto a large, sturdy wall of rock shot itself from the ground, cutting the path as it rose several stories into the air with the guards standing at the top. He simply grinned and shocked the guards as he jumped at the wall and kept on running, by defying all laws of physics and running up the dirt wall with his bare feet digging into it slightly for propulsion and friction. Infuriated at the spectacle that was admittedly amazing the thief's contractors, each guard threw their arms forward, and now the blond had to move in a zigzag pattern around earth spikes shooting from the wall to knock him down.

And he could only grin more as he jumped off the wall, landed on one of the spikes and used it as a step to jump over at the guards. Each of them gave a yelp as the blond, just because he felt a bit cockier, flipped in the air when he was at their level and scored a flawless landing beside them. He had on that annoying cheeky grin of his especially used when he took a big meal off a Fire Nation's officer's plate.

But just as the guards were about to apprehend him for questioning, the blond sighed, "Man, I really had fun now!" And just like that, he jumped off the wall, making the benders cry after him due to thinking he could die. Imagine their shock when the blond landed on a roof, rolled, and kept on running again. Five seconds later, when the benders' brains kicked in that tan intruder had escaped them, each and every single one entered the city after him while calling for their superiors.

Azula smiled, "He is useful after all. Hmm… I might have to spend a little money on his dinner tonight for this."

"What do you mean, Azula?" Ty Lee asked, until Mai spoke as she finally noticed it.

"There are no guards." The stoic girl said, seeing the free path they all had which they immediately took. Once inside she spoke calmly, "Oh well, I'll take back… about thirteen percent of the bad things I said about him."

"Just that?" asked a voice on the other side of the gates inside the wall, leaning on a building and smiling under new clothes. The cheeky, cocky tone of the voice allowed the girls to know who it was from the start even before he tilted up his new straw hat. Clad in beige pants and a green gi was Naruto with a beige bag that carried his shinai and most likely his previous outfit slung over his shoulder. "And here I went through all the trouble of trying to find some decent clothes." He patted his new pants, "Not as comfortable as my hakama, but this'll do. What do you think?"

"Not bad, for a thief in a hurry." Azula said with her own smirk.

"Hey, you are paying this thief to do his job, not look good, which I admittedly do already regardless of my outfit." Naruto chuckled as he ignored Mai's rolling eyes and Azula's mocking smirk that signaled sarcasm, and then tossed the girls an outfit for each, "The guards should've looked more carefully when I landed where I was headed to, the poor owner didn't know I took this stuff until I was racing back to the get you."

The girls were given green dress gowns typical of the Earth Kingdom which would make the trio blend easily and look good at the same time. So, after giving the girls enough time and good privacy to change, Naruto was back on his duty of sniffing the Avatar and whatever lunch he could be carrying.

XXXXXX

However, inside Gaoling, a certain group of colorfully clad people sat around a Pai Sho table. They were also… colorful in their own twisted ways. One of them sat at the sides, licking the brim of a jar of booze with a forked tongue, said tongue that was that way because of the man cutting the tip in half himself. This guy's head looked more like a skull with his teeth sharpened into fangs, he also had a black hair done in a Mohawk, and wore a black leather opened jacket to show an skeletal torso that was mostly skin and bones, blue pants with cherry blossoms adorning them form the knees down, and straw sandals. On his right, leaning on his body, was a large scythe with a rhino lizard's skull where the staff and blade met.

This snake like man frowned and spat out his booze, "Oi, what's with this crap?! I thought we were getting' good stuff!"

An ox of a man stood with a frown. He was muscles over muscles, and easily dwarfed everyone around him by standing well over eight foot of height. This man's entire body was covered in pitch a black leather jacket and matching silk pants with black boots, which was tight and yet loose at the same time to allow him to move. His black hair was cut extremely short, making it easy to see the paleness of his skull as well as the massive scar that was shaped as a cross on his face which had one end going all the way to the back of his skull, with the center crisscrossing on the bridge of his nose. This man had a scowl on his face as he turned to the reptile of his comrade, the C word being bile raising in his throat. Also, one could note the two chain whips on each hip he had.

"Shut up, Snake. We wouldn't be in this situation if we had better targets."

Someone snorted. It was a woman clad in a yellow kimono covered in red cherry flowers all over the cloth, with her hair painted a dark green, wearing purple slacks, and walking on metal boots with a curved blade poking out of each finger. She had a scowl on her face, her hair done in a bob, and an eye-patch on her right eye. Her most distinct feature, however, was that on her side was a massive two-handed sword and that beneath her kimono her arms were ripped enough to carry such a massive sword without problem, and thus making her… ahem… comparable small feminine traits hard to find in the bulk… She looked like a dude.

"It wouldn't be a problem if that little bitch Jun didn't have that pet of hers, Bear." She said, crushing her metal jar of booze without any effort.

The reptilian man laughed, "Oh, that's rich coming from you, Dog… I'm afraid it's just jealousy over who's got the looks and skills." He said while wiping out his split tongue like the snake he was.

The woman grabbed her sword, to which the skinny man replied by having his scythe ready, hefted on one shoulder. But before either of them could snap at each other, an elderly voice spoke up, filled with power, "You're disrupting my game, whippersnappers…" the owner of the voice, an elder man clad in blue robes all the way until his head was completely buried in thick layers of blue cloth, spoke with disdain, "Remember that the way to longevity… is to destroy the next generations… Kuehehehe…" he cackled, to which the towering man known as Bear replied by moving one of his pieces of Pai Sho.

"Sorry, Master Fujimoto." The group said in unison while the blue cloaked figure moved his own piece, until…

"Master Fujimoto! Master, great news!" someone said as the door to the bar the quartet was in burst open. The figure standing in the doorway had pitch black long, very long hair which bangs already hid the face. He was a man judging by the physique, was clad in pitch black hakama pants, wore a dark green kimono with sleeves that were easily dragged on the ground, and had two large metallic piercings on both side of his mouth resembling fangs. What stood out of the figure, however, was its hunched position and a large wooden barrel it carried on its back with a white skull messily painted on it.

Movement shook the newcomer's kimono all over the chest, until a piece of paper flew out and landed on the table. It was a portrait of Azula, a rather good one that laid on the table for them to see along something that certainly interested them… a very, very, and I mean VERY big price for the princess' head.

It came as no surprise that Ozai wasn't beloved by many, so it shouldn't be surprising that even his children had a special price to their heads… or rather, the one people knew the lord of the Fire Nation held close as his favorite child, Azula.

The group grinned, "You mean she's…" the man known as Fujimoto started, chuckling underneath his layers of clothing.

The newcomer nodded his head, "She's in this town… However, she seems to be guarded, and she is Ozai's daughter, so she must be dangerous… But, if we make ourselves with her pretty head…"

Snake stomped the ground with his scythe, "Forget the head, Fang, I want to know more about that bod of hers, like how much we'll be paid for every bit of her slutty self!"

Dog clenched her fists, "Nah, we should already kill her, we could be heroes for many…"

Bear sighed, "What do you say, Master Fujimoto?"

The elder man cackled underneath the helmet of cloth he had, "It's been a while since I've seen a feisty young girl… We could easily break her if we used her to get extra money before sending her fingers, one by one, to her father… Before starting to send her teeth, also one by one… Kuehehehe…"

The maniacal group cackled at the idea, for they held hatred for the Fire Nation like many others, to the point their own armies had kicked them out for killing any ally that got in their way to murder their enemies.

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Well, this turned a bit dark, didn't it? Anyway, don't deny it people, it could have happened. Ozai was a massive douche, and people target everything and anything to get even to massive douchebags like him. So, I've decided to go one step beyond, make an original thing in the same episode in which Aang is trying to meet Toph, and get creative as Hell. As for these OCs, well, they're monsters in more ways than one. Not overpowered benders or the likes, but still powerhouses on their own on the level of the show, and quite bloodthirsty.**

**If you're wondering where the inspiration came from... well, Snake was designed after Duck King from Fatal Fury with bits of Goro Majima and the scythe guy from Samurai Champloo. Bear is based on the Castlevania heroes only without the heroism. Dog is kinda a mixture of Sakura Oogami and Cloud Strife with the personality of Larxene. And Fujimoto and Fang came a bit out of nowhere, so I'm not sure what I can say I got inspired with to make them.**

**And don't worry, these maniacs won't take the spotlight, they're here to show how badass Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula are. Yes, Naruto will fight them too, but don't think the blond will go around saving the Fire Nation ladies from them like they're damsels in distress, we know those three would knock even the most skilled of fighters in seconds.  
**

**Swordslinger out!**


	3. Chapter 3

I OWN NOTHING

Since my gorgeous ass is still right where I left it last chapter with Naruto and the Fire Nation's best ladies with some shady and psychotic people after Azula's head for reasons stated before, let's give this a crack.

**XXXXXX**

Not quite friendly

"What is your nose saying now, right or left?" Azula asked in her green robes and her bun now in an Earth Kingdom hair pin.

Behind her were Ty Lee and Mai, both also in green robes with the acrobat pulling her hair in a jade ring for her braided ponytail and the weapon mistress having her pigtails now in white bun holders for her ox-horn hairstyle. They followed the now sniffing blond while the flexible brunette wondered if his spiky hair would pierce the straw hat on his head or make it fall, or if Naruto's hair would be tamed. Mai remained her bored stoic self though she readied a sigh for whatever question the chi blocker could have. Azula for her part felt a strange mixture between the pleasure of command and the awkwardness of looking at Naruto's ass as the blond was on all fours, sniffing the ground for whatever food the Avatar could have.

Naruto stopped his shaking his bum to the girls who had been giggling, groaning or letting it slip for effectiveness, hummed as he took a long final sniff, "Hmm… It seems they changed some food here… Their trail's not cold, but it's mixed with others. It may take me a while but if you want it to be faster, I need a more direct sample of the meat they have to pick up the scent of their pets from the bacon some fisherman has."

Ty Lee raised a brow, "How do you know one's a fisherman?"

Naruto grinned and took a squatting position with his hands on the ground, like a dog ready to point where to go, "Dude loves meat almost as much as I love noodles. He smells like he's spent a good chunk of his life eating fish or searching for fish to make good meals, and there's that salty smell of sea salt that goes great to dry food or use it on-"

Azula sighed for Mai, "We're not here for culinary recipes, Naruto. Do you have a lead or not?"

Naruto stood up and faced his boss, "Did you have people feed you grapes for breakfast before meeting me?" he asked before turning to his right and aiming a finger, "I think I figured out an aroma that they didn't have before coming to this city, highly expensive food the kind nobles eat." He licked his lips, "So they went around here, met someone from high places and had enough contact to get their scent… and trust me, that's the kind of stuff I used to take in Fire Nation ships before slapping my bum at the captains there."

Ty Lee giggled at the mental image, Mai sighed, and Azula chuckled, "Well, let's see how good that speed of yours is. Find the Avatar and report to me immediately. We'll be at the market street trying to find something to eat, find us before we're done eating and with news of the Avatar, and you're free to eat to your heart's content."

The fiery princess needn't look to see her current employee running off so fast that he left a cloud of dust shaped like himself. Curious as ever, Ty Lee tried to reach it, only to see Mai leave two holes where the eyes should have been. An elder woman selling bread blinked as she found two flies nailed to a nearby wall with needles that had to be from the sewing and cloth shop behind the stoic girl with hair buns. The flies had conveniently passed before the dust figurine's eyes.

"Psst, Azula." Ty Lee whispered as she leaned towards her friend, "I think Mai doesn't like Naruto much."

Azula felt the need to use a sarcastic, snarky remark but decided to amuse her acrobat friend, "Who knows? Mai does have a thing for the kind of guy who does unexpected things, and so far Naruto's a surprise."

The stoic girl sighed again, "I don't think my tastes would be as low as to go with a guy who'd put food before me." She said, half-jokingly and half to make her point she didn't like the conversation.

Ty Lee beamed, "Well, I think he's cute, he has those whiskers on his face like he's some sort of cute animal to pet. Oh, remember the turtleducks at your garden, Zula? I miss to feed them."

The princess chuckled, the brunette was always full of energy to cheer her up or add something new to the table while Mai was capable of bringing reason and order if necessary, and all had the same sense of fun in facing strong people and humiliating them. To have Naruto admitting defeat to them with a well laid out plan was one of those little joys in life Azula loved to exploit as long as she could, and the reward of having someone who was a thief with infamy as a master infiltrator in her army's food storages and a speedster faster than any ride made that victory all the sweeter. The added bonus of having him as a tracker was even better… now, if only he showed some respect and proper manners when talking to her, that'd be the complete package.

She was in a good mood, "I believe I saw a stand serving seafood inside balls of dough, all those dough Avatar pieces Naruto ate made me want to eat actually fried dough with something more inside."

"Do you think it's wise to walk around commoners considering who we are?" Mai asked, her knives at the ready at all times ever since she entered the town.

Azula grinned, "It could be thrilling, wouldn't it? And we could get the added bonus of seeing what the life of peasants is like. Who knows? You may even enjoy it."

Mai sighed, but was interrupted mid sigh by Ty Lee who grabbed both her friends for a hug, "All right, seafood here we go!" she said and moved the other two girls forward.

Meanwhile, Azula enjoyed the glances she got, the people around her looked at the three girls as more of their own, normal girls. It was new, that was for certain, and not only that but she got some looks from stupid idiots who at least recognized beauties, giving her ego a good boost. She was confident and perfect in everything she did, and she prided herself in her appearance too, so to get some idiots staring at her even in the ridiculous green dress robes Naruto stole for her was good in her book for it proved she not only could be normal, but she could make normal idiots act like bigger idiots because of her good looks. Okay, she was acting like one of those bitches she heard so much about who did anything to get attention at the academies thinking they were on her father's level because of their status and wealth, but none of the three girls walking together had had any kind of experience in those environments since birth, Ozai didn't allow his kids to be average, but Azula had to admit it felt good to be at an average level and be good at it.

However, they hadn't noticed the eyes staring at them while a massive fgure moved in the shadows. The bounty hunter chuckled a bit, "Their bodies seem good enough for my sword to split apart. But who should be first? Master Fujimoto wants the princess…" The swordswoman known as Dog felt her hands shaking as they reached for her sword, making her chuckle, "The brunette or the bun-haired one? Hahahaha… I always liked tender meat…" he cackled as the girls moved to the takoyaki stand Azula had been interested in.

XXXXXX

Once arriving at Gaoling's biggest house, and by saying it was big would be to sell the place short, Naruto finally grinned. He came to a halt before the large walls and jumped up, landing softly on the border between the world of the peasants and the stinking rich. But the stench of money was no comparison to the smell of good cooking, mostly that delicious scent of good stew with his name on it.

"Well, I've run three miles to find this guy, he's not here, so there's only one thing I can do." Rubbing his hands together, and knowing his skills, Naruto guessed the time he had to meet Azula with the good news was more than enough to take some bites of whatever caused that heavenly aroma.

The disguised blond leaped to the majestic and massive gardens that could have a small army there, and changed midair. Just before his feet hit the ground, the blond thief was back to his old outfit while he threw the bag with his disguise on top of a tree, in order to get it later once he had done his little… information gathering. Yeah, that didn't sound as mean-spirited as food robbery. Back to his skin tight pitch black muscle shirt, reddish orange hakama pants, and on his red steel gauntlet and pauldron on his left arm he was set with his bamboo sword resting on his right bare shoulder. He swiftly took off the straw hat and threw it at the tree where it landed on top of the bag carrying his clothes, and thus letting out his spiky hair be seen.

And that just blew his cover, "Who's there?"

Naruto tensed his body stiff in an instant as he turned around to try to see who found him… And then he relaxed at the sight. It was a little girl in an expensive royal white dress typical of the Earth Kingdom, with her hair done in a large bun thanks to a green hairband, and she was blind. The speedy thief felt pity as he noticed her creamy dull eyes tainted slightly by green, meaning she could be an earth bender. He decided to play it safe and use his swift feet and stealth to get out without her hearing him so she could pass it up as just an animal passing by.

That was until he gave the first step to try to get to the stew – He always thought with his stomach, sadly – and that caused the girl to grin, "Oh, there you are." And what Naruto saw next shocked him. The girl just stomped on the ground with her heel, and soon a spike shot from the ground, nearly slamming him on the chest. The blond flipped backwards, landed on his hands, and pushed himself off the ground to land away from the girl with his feet skidding to a halt.

Shinai drawn, left hand on the ground to further stop his movement, and his eyes set on the little grinning girl whose face spelled cocky said the battle was on, "I don't suppose we could talk over some scones."

The girl smugly smiled and aimed a finger at him, "Hah, in about five seconds you'll be eating a mud pie, pal. You messed with the wrong kickass princess."

Naruto tried to joke and see if he could distract her enough to get his disguise and get back to Azula before things got worse, "Kickass princess? Come on, not even a decent rock pun? Here's one: let's rock."

The girl's grin turned cockier, "Oh, you sound kind of cute… in the weak dork kind of way."

Naruto chuckled, "I'm just a lowly thief by the name of Naruto. Stealing food is the only thing I'm good at, and I need to eat, so please either tell me where you have some of the good food around here, or let's take this easy."

She said with a confident smirk, "What is it, trying to steal a kiss from poor little innocent me?" Naruto winced when she threw forward a fist, and the earth spike he avoided before was split in two, the top half flying at him. The blond thief swung his shinai at an incredible speed that the blind girl barely heard until he smashed the rock to pieces. Needless to say his speed surprised her considering it had a lot of weight behind to use a lot of force, and yet, she could feel the movement of his feet on the ground. She grinned as she moved one foot forward.

Too slow to feel the ground softening, Naruto found a fistful of mud splashing his face and blinding him. He wiped off the wet dirt with one hand and watched as the girl threw both palms forward, and then slamming them. He heard the movement and jumped up, his feet landing on top of the earth walls the girl tried to use to catch him. Judging by how they stopped instead of crashing against each other, he noted she wanted to capture him, not kill him. That was good… somewhat. The small relief he felt was nothing when the girl frowned and moved her hands to her side, separating the earth walls and splitting Naruto's legs until they were parallel to the ground.

She grinned, she had forced a man to spread his legs as if to teach him what women went like when giving birth… But she was shocked when hearing not grunts of pain, but a chuckle, "This would've worked were I not someone who relies on his legs." The blond said as he slid off the walls and landed before the small blind earth bender with a grin.

She groaned, "I know you're smiling, and I'm going to wipe that expression of your face with tons of mud… and dirty underwear too!" she was a kid, after all.

He wouldn't lose his grin, "Ok, time for me to make the stupid obvious question, but how does a blind girl like you become such a cool earth bender? Seriously, I slipped past the guards at the gate of this town after running over the wall, and you're the one to give me a challenge?"

That stopped the girl's frowning, "You gave them the slip?"

Naruto noted her change in posture; she was more relaxed, so he decided to brag, "Of course, they were too slow. I got to say, you're real young, but by the good spirits, you're freaking amazing."

The girl grinned widely, "Of course I am, who do you think I am? I am the one who-"

"Toph!"

The two opponents' eyes went wide, and Naruto instantly jumped to the tree he had hid his disguise on, trying to remain out of view and get his clothes in silence while the girl got confronted by several men in outfits similar to the guards at the gates, and a man and woman in such expensive robes that they had to be the girl's parents. Just before they arrived, she had easily stomped her foot on the ground to make the remains of her fight sink into the ground and out of anyone's sight.

"Toph, did something happen? We heard noises here but didn't hear you calling for help." The father said, rather sternly as if expecting his daughter to come to him no matter what.

The girl put a finger to her lips, "Oh, nothing bad happened, it's just… There was this strange band playing weird music. They said they were earth benders and were using their bending to make the music."

Naruto inwardly groaned as the parents seemed to buy their little innocent – add a lot of sarcasm there – girl, "Oh, that sounds… Well, they do need to practice away from here." The mother said.

"I told them that." Toph said with a grin, "And they politely left."

The father nodded, "Good, Toph, but next time that happens, have the guards do it for you, that's why we pay them, so you don't have to talk to strangers."

"I'll remember it." She said, and they soon left. Once they were gone, she finally turned to the tree where Naruto had been hiding in at all times, "You can come out now."

Naruto did just that, his shinai hefted on his shoulder, "You know, you could've told them I was here."

The girl, Toph as identified by her parents, chuckled, "I actually had fun fighting you, so I decided to give you a break. You're the first…" she sighed, and punched him in the elbow, making Naruto yelp for she packed quite a punch, "You treated me like an earth-bender for a change. Even if you're some smelly thief, I think I'll let this slide." She then aimed a finger, "The kitchen's over there, it's five steps of a little girl to get to where they keep the cookies on the top shelf."

"You're actually helping me?" Naruto asked with a raised brow as he leaned closer to the girl, seeing she couldn't be faking her blindness, "I did mention I am a thief, you said so. So, why give me the special treatment?"

She punched his arm again, only to yelp since this time she punched the armored one, "Ow! Are you really a thief? You seem to be armed like a soldier, even if you don't have any swords on you."

"I think I asked a question. But fine, I'll answer." Naruto said with a shrug, "I used to steal from Fire Nation soldiers. They get some good food. I even got captured a few times, but considering I am faster than them, well, a few tricks helped me escape. I got this bamboo sword and armor from them from one of my escapes."

The girl grinned, "Cool, so, did you really slip past the guards at the gate? I heard some of them were even as good as the guys at Ba Sing Se."

"Well, I don't mean to brag… but screw it, I'll do it for you, Toph!" he had a good idea now of why she let him go free of punishment, she was real bored, and thus hearing a few stories of adventures seemed like a good way to solve that. That, and she seemed to have really enjoyed their little fight before. "Where do I start? Umm… Well, my name's Naruto. I was born at the Fire Nation, and due to not having much money I had to steal food and run as fast as I could. Ok, sure, it's not as easy as it sounds, but from taking food from small shops at the Fire Nation I started to target the greedy soldiers. I mean, why put the effort into working in one of those stuffy uniforms when I could just take their food and run off with enough distance to pull down my pants and show them my behind?"

"Then how didn't you get burned to a crisp?" she asked, though failing to hide her excitement.

Naruto grinned, "By being faster than them. The guys rely too much on their fire bending, so I just have to jump out of the way and strike. But the best method is to be silent and hide in their shadows. I learned, through a lot of trial and error, how to avoid being seen. I'll admit the first times were a mess. There was this one time I tried to take a pouch of gold from a captain, and I don't know how but I ended in a hot spring with six soldiers armed with bow and arrows ready to shoot at will. I was lucky the steam was there to hide in and that I could listen to the strings of the bow before they fired. I didn't get the money, but took the guy's pants, leaving him to walk back to his camp in his underpants."

Toph laughed at that, "Sounds like today you also had trouble." She grinned, "So, you were saying about me being freaking amazing?"

"Well, you're the first person I know that can keep up with my speed." Naruto admitted, "You take a very defensive but aggressive style, though, that's so cool it's even scary."

She blushed but her grin widened, "I thank the wonders of being born awesome, Naru." She said, before turning her head to the side, something seemed off with her expression, "Oh… I… I need to go. It seems I have visits." She then turned at him, "Hey, Naru, even if you're a thief, you seem fun to hang around. So next time we meet, I'll get you some scones."

"I have to move around town and do some stuff." Naruto said, making two mental notes. One, Toph had a damn good sixth sense to detect anything coming her way. And two, the Avatar had arrived to greet her. He ended giving her a bittersweet smile, "If we meet again, I may have to give you the rematch."

Toph felt something off, but before she could ask, Naruto leapt to the tree, grabbed his stuff, and with another jump he was off to find Azula.

XXXXXX

"Hmm… This isn't so bad, being treated like normal girls." Azula said as she sat at the small stand she wanted to go to and read the menu to try to decide her order.

Ty Lee hummed, "What's so special? We still have to find the Avatar."

The princess smirked, "Yes, but for now we can have fun. Maybe Mai will brood less." She said jokingly to her stoic friend.

Said bun haired girl put down her menu and wondered out loud, "How can we even get food here?"

The other two girls were at a bit of a loss, shrugging uselessly. Having servants getting royalty food, loyal fans to worship one endlessly, and having parents that gave everything away to the point was boring at best, it was easy to see why they were unused to the whole deal of getting food at a restaurant. To their good luck, a waiter walked by, smiling far too much as he looked at the innocent, cheerful girl of the bunch with the braid.

"Would you ladies like to order now? I'd recommend the ones with onion and soy sauce."

"Oh, that sounds great." Ty Lee said.

Azula smiled, "I'll have your best drink then."

"What they said." Mai said boringly as she set down her menu, but the waiter ignored her and Azula as he put his attention on the acrobat.

"Well, another good option for you would be something as lovely as yourself, milady." He said to the brunette while the two raven haired girls rolled their eyes at the man's pitiful attempts to get a date.

Ty Lee just grinned, "Oh, then what would that be?" she asked, already used to men doing things for her.

"How's twenty packs of takoyaki sound for a start?" Naruto, back in his disguise of an Earth Kingdom peasant, asked as he took a seat with the girls by pulling a chair, twirling it so the back faced the table, and sitting on it with his arms on top of the head as he lazily looked the menu. "Just do me a favor and bring me the classic stuff."

Ty Lee, seeing the man's shocked look as the blond sat with three beautiful girls, raised her arms and hugged the blond thief's arm, "Hey, you took your sweet time getting over here?" she then moved back and enjoyed the defeated look of distress in the waiter's face that said he wouldn't annoy her more.

Azula groaned, "Still breaking hearts." She mumbled under her breath. Though, in her mind, she did praise Ty Lee for being so cruel and cold in telling a third rate Casanova he had no chance of scoring, but the way she hugged Naruto, their employee, in such a carefree way did tick her off. Ty Lee acted as a child most of the time, but what ticked her off was how Naruto seemed too happy about it. He was supposed to find the Avatar and report to them, after all. Naruto had to be obedient and follow orders, not fool around. Only Ty Lee could fool around and it was because she was loyal to Azula.

Once the waiter was off, Azula gave Naruto a expecting look, so he replied, "Yeah, I found him, so I think I earned my food." He said with a smirk, "Problem is that if you want him, well, he's at a very heavily guarded place… I think it's the Beifong Mansion since Mai did mention they're the richest guys here, and it does show."

Azula hummed, "Even all of us against the Avatar wouldn't be easy considering the guards and reinforcements Gaoling has, and add to that-"

"Wait, now I think it's time I asked something." Naruto said as he leaned forward on his chair, "What do you expect to do to the Avatar once you find him?"

She grinned and nonchalantly replied, "Kill him."

Naruto blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

"I'll kill him, that's it, there's no bigger picture besides me gaining great honor." Azula replied as casually as if she were talking of the weather. But her smile said she enjoyed the idea.

Before the blond could even reply, Azula and he heard something said through the air. Before the blond could even reply, Azula and he heard something said through the air. In a split second, all parties kicked up the table and rolled away. The next second, they noticed a woman with the next traits: buffer than normal men and less feminine than a man, yellow kimono with red cherry flowers printed on it, dark green hair in a bob, purple slacks, metal boots with five curved blades over the toes to act as claws, an eye-patch on her right eye, and a massive sword. It was a tsurugi, or glaive, a sword meant to be held in two hands by strong swordsmen, and yet the woman carried it singlehandedly with no strain on her arm.

Ty Lee cartwheeled away as the strike sunk the sword into the solid ground she had been standing on along the others while the airborne table had been split in half. Mai herself grabbed a few hands out of her sleeves and got ready for battle, but was unsure on whether to strike or not. This would call for attention and they didn't need the guards of Gaoling after them or telling the entire Earth Kingdom of their presence. And Azula knew this, otherwise she'd have grabbed the chain whips and let the man get fried by her lightning bending.

Naruto, however, wasn't that much of a thinker. He grabbed his green gi, and in a swift motion threw it aside, somehow getting instantly changed into the outfit Azula and the others found him with when they first met him, complete with armor. Dog growled at the kid's attitude to get changed into comfortable clothing when before an adversary, but the kid's stance said he was good, mostly with the mastered grip on his shinai. She hefted her glaive on her shoulder, pulling it effortlessly from the ground it had been stabbed on with just one hand.

The woman had her eyes set on an angered scowl, so one would have to be careful with his words, "Why's it always the crazy ones after me? I mean, I know I'm cute and all." Naruto quipped.

Ty Lee blinked, "Wait, that's a woman?!" she asked in shock, only to yelp as Dog ignored Naruto and swung her glaive at her. The acrobat flipped herself in the air and landed on top of a table on all fours in a crouched position. She would've gotten into her stance, but knew they would call for attention.

Dog bared her teeth at the girl, "I hate hussies like you…" she said as she approached the acrobat, "Always so feminine, too busy with make-up, fooling around with idiotic boys when real women go out and fight."

"Oh, those are fighting words." Azula growled as she readied herself to fight this woman, only for Naruto to stop her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Considering I'm getting paid with good food, here's a deal." He said as he picked up a cup and threw it at the massive muscular woman, who swung her glaive around and split the cup in two, "I'll take care of this gorilla for you, you will buy me those twenty packs of takoyaki and answer some of my questions." He got into a stance with his shinai forward and both hands holding it, a typical samurai stance, "Truth be told, I don't mind women with the extra beef, but only if they have a cute side to greet me."

Dog grinned with bloodlust in her teeth, "I'll show you cute when you're down to just bones."

Naruto grinned and turned to Azula, "See? That's a genuine smile there, you could learn to be more truthful like that."

Azula face-palmed, though a smile came to her face, "It seems I'll always find the best in the craziest."

**XXXXXX**

**And that's my rap!**

**Hope you can forgive the cliffhanger and that enjoyed the chapter, I will try to move this forward but, as said before, this will have some original arcs focusing on Azula and Naruto traveling after Aang and his gang. Writing original storylines is not easy, yet still very satisfying at the same time. So, next chapter will be a large showdown between Azula's team and Fujimoto's bounty hunters.**

**By the way, if you have an OC bounty hunter to put after Azula, make sure to make them the meanest guys around, though a tragic backstory to hate the Fire Nation wouldn't hurt either. Share them with me in your reviews and after this little arc, they may pop up to face Azula and her loyal minions- err… friends.**

**Now, a little Omake with what would've happened had I made Naruto go after other girls. Oh, and this fic will be only Naruto with Azula, sorry if you wanted a harem.**

-OMAKE-

What if Naruto had flirted more?

"Hah, in about five seconds you'll be eating a mud pie, pal. You messed with the wrong kickass princess."

Naruto saw his chance to strike when Toph said that, "Then a kiss from you should be all the sweeter."

Toph blushed until her ears were red, and threw her hands forward, "Sh-Shut up!"

Naruto grinned as he avoided the rocks flying his way, "Whoa, that's a good look on you." He leapt forward and chuckled as he stood before Toph, but before she could attack, Naruto used her shock, grabbed her hand, and put his lips on her knuckles, "And today's been a lovely evening." And just like that, he left, leaving the girl holding her glowing red cheeks as steam came out of her ears.

XXXXXX

In the rooftop, after trying to run away from fire bender and the other two girls, Naruto stood before the broody girl who had pulled out several kunai to skewer him with, "Are you even going to try?"

Naruto grinned, "Ok, be negative just like that, you'll just be my type." He said with a massively cocky grin.

He had to lean back and roll backwards to avoid the knives barely missing his face while Mai charged forward, pulling out more blades to throw, "Please tell me that wasn't your best joke." She said as she threw the daggers and Naruto swatted them aside with his shinai as he let her get closer.

"Actually…" Naruto started as he dashed forward to be met with the girl's face and hold her hand, pull her closer and, to her shock, plant a kiss on her cheek, "This is the best I can think of when around you."

And the next second, a powerful shock of electricity threw his unconscious heap of a scorched body to the ground while Mai held her face in her hands, not wanting to see Azula's grin as the fire princess spoke, "So… you certainly work fast, Mai." Said girl died a bit inside when Ty lee started to giggle.

XXXXXX

As Naruto traded swings against the jabs of the chi locker girl in the rooftop he had been forced on, he had to speak, "You know, this is the first time I have this much fun in a fight."

Ty Lee grinned as she threw her leg forward, only to have it connect with Naruto's when he kicked too in order to get some distance, "That's an impressive flow you have." She said as she got into her stance.

Naruto grinned wider, "Hey, I got a compliment and a smile from you all in one today, that's my first victory."

Ty Lee giggled and, despite her barely noticeable pink hue on her cheeks, kept trading blows with the blond.

XXXXXX

"Tell me, what if I could give you an actual purpose?" Azula asked with a wide smirk.

Naruto put his hand on his chin and spoke up, "Unless that purpose is to steal a kiss from you, you are far behind me."

Azula blinked in shock, "What?!"

And, in a split second, the speedster raced at her and managed to weave around her defenses to be face to face with the cold fire princess… and kissed her fully on the lips. The moment he pulled back, he had the biggest winning smile, "Well, I can die happy now without regrets."

Azula didn't have time for shock, she went right to the anger, "Oh, you will!"

Ty Lee covered her eyes as the red-faced Azula fried the poor blond while Mai watched at the side, eating candies.

**XXXXXX**

**Swordslinger out!**


End file.
